If e-business had a modern-day Sherlock Holmes, his name would be David Dittrich. Dittrich, a security manager at the University of Washington, in Seattle, is one of a rare breed of security pros-the computer forensics expert-whose skills are getting ever more . . .
If e-business had a modern-day Sherlock Holmes, his name would be David Dittrich. Dittrich, a security manager at the University of Washington, in Seattle, is one of a rare breed of security pros-the computer forensics expert-whose skills are getting ever more precious as the number of computer crimes spirals.

These are the data detectives who search for digital clues remaining on computers after malicious-or black-hat-hackers have done their dirty deeds. Sleuths like Dittrich analyze e-mail, Web site records and hard drive data, looking for clues to the identity of criminals and crackers, much like gumshoes examine crime scenes for fingerprints and stray hairs.